KING COUNTY, Wash. — Three men have been charged in connection with a 2019 drive-by shooting on State Route 509 that killed a man, according to court charging documents.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged Ali Jamaal Sharif, Aden Muktar Mohamed and Emilio Ramon Pay-Pay with first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in the death of James Andrew Richardson III, who was 20 years old at the time of the fatal shooting.
Prosecutors have asked for bail to be set at $2,000,000 for all the defendants, even Sharif who was 17 years old at the time of the shooting and does not have any prior criminal convictions, court documents stated.
According to the Washington State Patrol, the shooting happened at 8:40 p.m. on southbound State Route 509 near Cloverdale Street.
Troopers said someone in a car fired into the victim’s car, which had two men inside and was in the HOV lane.
The driver, identified as Richardson, was shot in the face, causing the car to hit the Jersey barrier on the left shoulder. The passenger was not hurt.
Troopers said Richardson was treated at the scene and then taken to Harborview Medical Center. He was taken off life support the next morning.
Richardson was described by an uncle as an up-and-coming rapper who went by the name of “Tanaa Money.”
Court documents state the defendants “engaged in extremely dangerous and lethal behavior that further enflamed a dispute that apparently erupted over the filming of a video.” The three men are known to be a part of the Holly Park street gang, according to documents.
On the day of the shooting, troopers found several shell casings at the scene.
According to court documents, more than a dozen rounds were fired from the vehicle the defendants were in.
Pay-Pay was identified as the driver of the vehicle, and Mohamed and Sharif were the ones who fired the rounds out of the car, court records state.
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